My posts on the Harbin Winter Ice Festival were interrupted by a small trip to the US with a five year old, which has consumed much of the last week. Before I leave the topic, however, I do want to share a bit about the other activities that kept us busy during our weekend up north.

While the snow and ice sculptures are by far the highlights of Harbin in winter, a package tour also offers a number of other activities to keep one busy and entertained. Upon arrival, our guide reviewed our itinerary, which would also include visiting a tiger farm, watching swimmers – in minus 4 F weather – plunge into the river, and playing a number of ice games.

The first morning, we ventured out to the area’s “tiger farm.” Once there, we boarded a small mini van with barred windows and packed with local tourists to view these noble beasts. The farm had opened several years ago with 100 tigers; through its successful breading program, it now boasted over 1,000, including a couple of Siberian whites.

When traveling overseas, every so often, I have one of those moments where I pause and think, “Wow, you’d never see this in the US.” (Of course, whether you’d want to is another question). This occurred as we watched a women take a live chicken out of a basket, tie it to the end of a stick and hoist it over the fence, where several tigers watched and waited. They growled in anticipation before one made this small hen his afternoon snack. When we returned to Beijing, a friend told me that we had been lucky. When she had visited the same place, the tigers had been treated to a live cow.

Later that day – mostly to warm up between visits to the snow and ice sculptures – we were taken to the indoor (heated) Polar World, a throwback to something from the 60’s. Here, cages were very small – too small – and the bulk of our visit was spent at a show where skinny women in tight, shimmery space suits – encouraged a seal to catch hoops and do a variety of tricks.

The following day, we witnessed yet another show of sorts when we went down to the river, where several locals, sporting bathing suits in sub zero temperatures, ascended a ladder as their skin turned pink and then dove into the icy waters below. Harbin boasts over 190 days per year of freezing temperatures. A hole had to be cut in the ice-covered river to accommodate this bold (some may say crazy) activity. I had seen something similar in Russia one December years ago, where “walrus swimmers,” swam in St. Petersburg, but the high dives made Harbin’s spectacle even more dramatic.

Also at the river, we participated in a number of ice activities. We pushed ourselves around a small track on chairs converted into sleds, whipped small tops to make them spin on the ice, and tried out some of the ice slides.

Mostly, my family travels independently; however, every once in awhile, when visiting some of the more remote corners of the world, it’s fun to sign up for the local, weekend tour package. You never know where you may end up or what you might see, but it’s always interesting.